When Doris hires a man named Kris Kringle to play Santa
Claus in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, things get interesting.
Kris doesn’t just play Santa Claus, he believes he is Santa Claus!
Fred Gailey, a lawyer who lives in the same apartment
building as Doris and Susan. He befriended Susan in an effort to meet Doris. His
plan works and he and Doris begin a relationship. Things get complicated when
the two clash on whether or not Susan should be exposed to the “myth” of Santa
Claus.
Kris Kringle suspects that Susan doesn’t believe in Santa
Claus and he makes it his mission to make her think otherwise.
Wilk Kris be successful? And is there really a Santa Claus
and is his name Kris Kringle?
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| Edmund Gwenn and Natalie Wood |
George Seaton (1911 - 1979) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Seaton started out as an actor and played the Lone Ranger o the radio. He got a job as a contract writer at M-G-M in 1933. His first credited script was for the Marx Brothers' comedy A Day at the Races (1937). Unhappy with only working on comedies, Seaton moved to Columbia in 1940. In the early 1940s, he went to 20th Century-Fox where he achieved his greatest success as a writer and director. At Fox, he wrote the scripts for That Night in Rio (1941), Moon Over Miami (1941), and The Song of Bernadette (1943). He made his directorial debut with Diamond Horseshoe (1945) starring Betty Grable. He wrote and directed Junior Miss (1945) starring Peggy Ann Garner. Seaton wrote and directed the classic Miracle on 34th Street. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay. Other films directed by Seaton include Apartment for Peggy (1948), The Country Girl (1954), Teacher’s Pet (1958), The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), 36 Hours (1964), What’s So Bad About Feeling Good (1968), and Airport (1970), the biggest hit of Seaton’s career.
Maureen O’Hara (1920 - 2015) was an Irish-American actress and singer. In her native Ireland, O’Hara trained with the Abbey Theatre at age 14. She screen-tested for the role of Mary Yellan in Jamaica Inn at age 19. Director Hitchcock wasn't impressed with O’Hara’s test but Laughton persuaded him to cast her. After finishing the film, O’Hara moved to Hollywood where she was signed to a contract at RKO. In 1941 she starred in How Green Was My Valley, her first collaboration with director John Ford. She starred alongside Tyrone Power in The Black Swan (1942), The Spanish Main (1945) with Paul Henreid, and Sinbad the Sailor (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. That same year she starred in the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street with John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and a young Natalie Wood. Other popular films include The Quiet Man (1952), The Parent Trap (1961), and McLintock! (1963).
John Payne (1912 –
1989) was an American film actor. He made his film debut in Dodsworth (1936). He had roles are
various studios but found stardom at 20th Century-Fox. At Fox, he had
major roles in Tin Pan Ally (1940), Sun Valley Serenade (1941), The Dolly Sisters (1945), The Razor’s Edge (1946), and perhaps his
most famous role as Fred Gayley in Miracle
on 34th Street (1947). Payne wasn’t happy with the roles he was
being offered at Fox so he broke his contract which had four more years to go.
As an independent freelance actor, Payne then specialized in westerns and films
noir. During this period, he starred in Kansas
City Confidential (1952), 99 River Street
(1953), and Santa Fe Passage (1955). From
1957 to 1959, he starred as Vint Bonner in the western TV series, The Restless Gun. Payne’s final role was
in an episode of Columbo in 1975.
Edmund Gwenn (1877 – 1959) was an English stage and film
actor. He is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Gwenn made his
Hollywood film debut in Sylvia Scarlett
(1935) and went on to have a long career in that town. He was a member of what
was known as the British Colony—British ex-pats who were working in Hollywood.
So of his other films include Pride and
Prejudice (1940), Foreign Correspondent
(1940), Lassie Come Home (1943), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), Undercurrent (1946), Apartment for Peggy (1948), and Mister 880 (1950). The actor Cecil
Kellaway was Gwenn’s cousin.
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| Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, and Edmund Gwenn |
Miracle on 34th Street trivia
- The team at Twentieth-Century Fox filmed the actual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1946.
- Edmund Gwenn actually played Santa Claus in that 1946 parade!
- Both Macy's and Gimbel's gave their permission to have their names used in the movie...after they saw the completed film!
- Gwenn gained 30 pounds to play Kris.
- This as Thelma Ritter's film debut; she was soon under contract with Fox and was nominated six times for Best Supporting Actress Oscars. She never won.
- The marketers at Fox didn't promote the film as a Christmas movie and came up with a crazy trailer that doesn't mention Christmas at all. (see trailer below)
- Miracle on 34th Street was released in theaters on June 11, 1947.
- The movie grossed four times its production cost.
To watch the film on YouTube, click the link below.
To join the discussion on December 19, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.
Discussion questions
- The film is an acknowledged holiday classic. Is it one of your favorites?
- Does this film hold up in the 21st century?
- What did you think of the relationship between Maureen O'Hara and John Payne? Did they have screen chemistry?
- This movie put a young Natalie Wood on the map. After this performance, every studio in Hollywood wanted her in one of their movies. What did you think of her performance?
- If you saw Edmund Gwenn, would you believe he was Santa Claus?
- Do you have a favorite scene or piece of dialogue?
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